
-
Asian markets track Wall St loss; Frankfurt lifted by German vote
-
China's Alibaba to invest $50 bn in AI, cloud computing
-
Indonesia launches new multi-billion-dollar sovereign wealth fund
-
Most Asian markets track Wall St loss; Hong Kong extends gains
-
Japan warns of avalanches, icy roads ahead of more snow
-
Conservatives win German vote as far-right makes record gains
-
'Captain America' slips but clings to N. America box office lead
-
Tens of thousands vow support for Lebanon's Hezbollah at slain leader's funeral
-
Tens of thousands pour in for Beirut funeral of slain Hezbollah leader
-
Germans vote under shadow of far-right surge, Trump
-
Hong Kong and Singapore lead Asia's drive to cash in on crypto boom
-
Well-off Hong Kong daunted by record deficits
-
Trump tariffs shake up China's factory heartland
-
Top issues in Germany's election campaign
-
Friedrich Merz: conservative on verge of German chancellery
-
Germans go to vote under shadow of far-right surge, Trump
-
Oscars favorite Baker says indie film 'struggling' as 'Anora' tops Spirit Awards
-
'Worst is over' as Chile's 'stolen' babies reunite with mothers
-
France's agriculture show, an outlet for angry farmers
-
China's EV maker XPeng eyes doubling global presence by year's end
-
Germany on eve of elections under shadow of US-European rift
-
France still seeking to block EU-Mercosur trade deal: Macron
-
Ukraine's earth riches are rare and difficult to reach
-
On $15 a month, Venezuela's teachers live hand to mouth
-
'See you in court': Trump, governor spar over trans rights
-
US stocks tumble on fears of slowdown
-
Cuba opens solar park hoping to stave off blackouts
-
German flying taxi start-up's rescue deal collapses
-
Stock markets diverge, oil prices slide
-
'Queen of Pop' Madonna lambasts 'King' Trump
-
Apple says halting data protection tool for UK users
-
Female chefs condemn sexism in British kitchens
-
US, China economic leaders raise 'serious concerns' in first call
-
Russia sells famed imperial prison at auction
-
Stock markets rise as Alibaba fuels Hong Kong tech rally
-
France full-back Jaminet returns to rugby after racist video ban
-
Chinese AI companies celebrate DeepSeek, shrug off global curbs
-
Asian markets advance as Alibaba fuels Hong Kong tech rally
-
Nissan shares jump 11% on reported plan to seek Tesla investment
-
Trump aid cut imperils water scheme in scorching Pakistan city
-
Just 17% of Japan citizens hold passport, data shows
-
Most Asian markets rise as traders pick over week of headlines
-
Japan's core inflation rate hits 19-month high
-
How a 'forgotten' Minnesota monastery inspired 'The Brutalist'
-
Japan's core inflation rate hits 3.2% in January
-
Stocks mostly fall on tepid Walmart outlook, geopolitical worries
-
Musk in X spat with Danish astronaut over 'abandoned' ISS crew
-
Bond franchise shake-up moves spy into Amazon stable
-
New York seeks hundreds of millions of dollars in 'vaping epidemic' case
-
Moon or Mars? NASA's future at a crossroads under Trump

India to sell 5% of insurance giant in huge IPO
India plans to sell a five percent stake in insurance giant LIC in what could potentially be the country's largest initial public offering, according to a regulatory filing Sunday.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's government is desperate for proceeds from the IPO of the Life Insurance Corporation of India and the sale of other state assets to help fix its tattered public finances.
Founded in 1956 by nationalising and combining 245 insurers, LIC was synonymous with life insurance in post-independence India for decades until the entry of private companies in 2000.
Despite a steady decline in market share, LIC continues to lead the pack with 64 percent of the life insurance market in the country of 1.4 billion people.
With staff of more than 100,000 people, its vast assets under management of 36.7 trillion rupees ($491 billion) equate to nearly 16 percent of India's gross domestic product.
LIC in turn is one of India's biggest institutional investors, with significant stakes in Indian blue-chip stocks like Reliance, TCS, Infosys and ITC.
According to LIC's draft prospectus filed with the market regulator on Sunday, the government plans to sell around 316 million shares in the IPO, which is expected to take place in March.
While the pricing has not yet been set, analysts expect the IPO to dwarf that of payments firm Paytm, which raised $2.5 billion in November in India's largest public share sale to date.
- Courting first-time investors -
The government hopes LIC's IPO will attract legions of first-time investors to the stock market, in a country where less than five percent of people have trading accounts.
It will be a crucial step in Modi's policy to "monetise and modernise" state-run companies and plug an estimated 16-trillion-rupee budget deficit this financial year in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.
Earlier this month, the government drastically cut its divestment target for the current year from 1.75 trillion rupees to 780 billion rupees.
Of this, the government has raised only 120.3 billion rupees by selling stakes in various state-owned entities this financial year, government data shows.
This puts New Delhi on course to miss its privatisation target for a third straight year despite concluding the long-delayed sale of flag carrier Air India to the Tata Group last month.
The IPO of LIC though will require additional transparency of the insurance behemoth's operations, which has more than 2,000 branches and an army of around one million "LIC agents".
LIC's real estate assets include vast offices at prime locations in different Indian cities, including a distinctively curved Art Deco building in Mumbai's financial district and a 15-storey LIC Building in Chennai that was once India's tallest building.
The firm is also believed to own a large collection of rare and valuable artwork that includes paintings by MF Hussain -- known as the Pablo Picasso of India -- although the value of these holdings has not been made public.
Srinath Sridharan, an independent markets commentator, likened LIC to one of India's "family jewels" and said that a successful IPO by the government could pave the way for others.
"If they can get this right, running a large entity and yet having the ability and agility to take care of minority shareholders' concerns, I think... it will be far easier to divest smaller entities, mid-sized entities," Sridharan told AFP.
C.Peyronnet--CPN